Sony Drops Some Big Ones at Leipzig

Today in the Sony press conference at the Leipzig Games Convention, they announced quite a bit of new hardware. It seems like Microsoft has been shuffling around their hardware a little bit lately, with all the talk about them phasing out the 20GB 360 model in favor of a 60GB model. But, they did one-up Sony as far as the largest factory hard drive on a console goes, with their 160GB elite model 360.

Well, today Sony announced a 160GB PS3 system that will go on sale later this year for $500, bundled with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. For the power gamer, perhaps a pretty nice deal, especially with all the mandatory installs PS3 games are requiring these days.

Next up we have the new PSP-3000, the third iteration of this sexy handheld. The most notable feature upgrades for this model is a built-in mic and an improved screen. If you already have a PSP-2000, I honestly can't see a reason to upgrade. Although the packages come with larger memory cards than previously.

Lastly we have the wireless keypad for the DualShock 3 controller. It plugs into the USB port on the top of the controller and acts as a mini wireless keyboard for your PS3. I might pick myself up one of these, simply because I absolutely hate typing names, passwords, etc. into the PS3 using only the controller. It annoys the pee out of me.

Some good info and good announcements, as far as hardware goes, from Sony. I look forward to seeing the impact they'll have across the gaming world.